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L. Frank Baum: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1) 4 stars

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is an American children's novel written by author L. Frank …

Review of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I read the Wizard of Oz and all the sequels at least a couple of times as a child, but it's been a long time since then, so when I found Audible had the book narrated by Anne Hathaway, I picked it up.

There are several details where the movie differs from the book, which I had forgotten; for example, there are no ruby slippers, they're silver; the movie doesn't end when the wicked witch is killed and they return to Oz, but in fact they have to go and fight their way through several more adventures to find Glinda in her own kingdom; and the flying monkeys don't belong to the wicked witch either, but are in fact like a genie's lamp and can be used only three times by the owner of an enchanted gold cap. The wicked witch starts out with it, but later Dorothy commands the monkeys also, and at the end they serve Glinda.

The book is still a fun, gentle children's story although I recall enjoying some of the sequels even more. May have to pick those up for a re-read too at some point!